Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. That belongs to the amazing Masashi Kishimoto, who I am not. Research from Wikipedia, MedlinePlus, and MedicineNet.

Warnings: Swearing, boyXboy lovin's, and anything else I wish to stick in here. My story, my rules. You don't like that, click the back button.

Prologue

"Chronic Obstructive what?"

A small boy, almost ten but much too small for his age, was looking up to a boy no older than seventeen, with wide, shinning eyes. The elder, lying weakly in the small hospital bed, looked down at his brother and smiled a small, sad smile. "Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The doctors say it was mostly genetic, but Mother and Father's smoking damaged my lungs even more. But the doctors say they may have caught it soon enough that I'll be fine," Itachi explained, lying through his teeth. While it was true it was caught early, he most likely wasn't going to be fine. His lungs were already in bad shape, and breathing was just so hard.

"Really?" the boy asked, not completely believing his older brother. It was something about the ward that just screamed death. All the other patients (kids really) here looked so sick, so close to death, that it hurt his tiny heart. He may only be nine, but he wasn't stupid; he knew his brother wasn't fairing very well. "'Cause you don't seem it."

And, as if to prove the younger's suspicions right, the elder let out a series of coughs, each as ineffective as the last. "Okay Sasuke," Itachi gasped after the coughs subsided, "you're right. I'm not "fine". I'm sick, and not going to get better. The damage to my lungs is permanent and there isn't anyway to fix them. But I'm not going to leave you. You need me, so I'm not about to give up without a fight. I'll hopefully live and I'll be here for you."

At these words, Sasuke launched himself into his brother's arms, and held tight, afraid of loosing his anchor. After their parents died in a car crash less than a year ago, the two had been living in their old house, Itachi taking over the role as Sasuke's parent figure. The only person to come and offer assistance was Kakashi Hatake, he best friend of their deceased godfather. But the "old pervert", so affectionately dubbed, lived over two hours away and was relatively broke. So he was only really there as moral support, when he came to visit every other weekend, which he wasn't even particularly good at either.

For the past few months though, Itachi had developed a fairly nasty cough and tired easily, which he finally got checked out. Turned out it was something very serious. Serious enough to be hospitalized for. Which left Sasuke all alone in the huge house, calling the need for someone to be there. And who better than the aforementioned Kakashi? The man took a leave of absence from his job, and said he'd watch over Sasuke as long as Itachi was in the hospital for.

Soon after, Kakashi came to pick Sasuke up, because visiting hours were long past, and Itachi was fatigued. A system started; one where Sasuke came to visit for a few hours each day. On the days that Itachi was too tired to talk, sometimes to even stay conscious, Sasuke would visit and talk with the other kids on the ward. Some as young as six, and as old as seventeen, he talked and made friend with them all.

All of the patients there, he learned, were all chronic cases, and many no longer got visitors, and some never did. But Sasuke made the effort to learn about them, make them a little less lonely.

All until that faithful day.

Somehow, Itachi had developed pneumonia, which exacerbated his lungs to the point where he couldn't breath at all. The doctors did all they could to save the young adult, but the damage to his lungs was too extensive already.

All Sasuke could do was sit back and watch as Itachi slowly suffocated to death. He refused to leave when visiting hours ended, but the nurses didn't have the heart to make the boy leave, so it wasn't much of a problem.

And so, as Sasuke sat with his brother's now still, cold body, he found a goal. A life goal, if you will. He would continue with what he'd been doing, visiting with critical patients (children), for as long as he could, as often as he could. Because…

Nobody deserves to die alone.

A/N: I probably shouldn't start a new story, because I still haven't finished It's Time to Let it Go,but this idea wouldn't leave me alone. As this is just a prologue, the main story will take place a few years later, and the following chapters will be much longer than this one. Input, please? Flames welcome.

Oh, and if this gets positive reviews, then I'll update the next chapter next weekend.